The speed of the fixed wireless internet has increased in the first month of 2023 compared to the previous month, while that of mobile network has continued to decline further, according to the Speedtest web service’s latest survey on global internet speed.
Data released by Speedtest.net show Iran’s internet speed (according to the median index) declined two places for fixed wireless internet while that of mobile fell one spot from the previous month.
The website used to use two median and mean (average) indicators to measure the ranking and quality of internet worldwide. The mean index is the average, but the median is the middle point of statistical data. In this report, only median indicator. The website claims that global rankings are reported based on median download speed “to best reflect the speeds a user is likely to experience in a market”.
Iran’s fixed internet speed ranked 146th (out of 179 countries) while mobile internet speed was at 56th place (out of 138 countries) in January.
Median fixed internet download speed is currently 11.44 Mbps, upload speed is 1.84 Mbps and latency is 29 milliseconds. This is while the median mobile internet download speed is 35.87 Mbps, upload speed is 10.05 and latency is 29 milliseconds.
According to Speedtest, the median global mobile internet download speed is 37.98 Mbps, upload speed is 9.75 Mbps and latency is 28 milliseconds. On fixed internet, the download speed is 76.34 Mbps, upload speed is 33.36 Mbps and latency is 10 milliseconds.
The UAE median mobile internet download speed stood at 161.15 Mbps in January to rank first in the world. It was followed by Qatar with 155.51 Mbps, Norway with 128.14 Mbps, South Korea with 124.84 Mbps, Denmark with 117.83 Mbps, the Netherlands with 115.1 Mbps, Kuwait with 109.93 Mbps, China with 99.48 Mbps, Saudi Arabia with 97.9 Mbps and Bahrain with 95.83 Mbps.
For median fixed internet speed, Singapore ranked first with 234.55 Mbps. Chile with 224.84 Mbps, China with 211.34 Mbps, the UAE with 207.41 Mbps, Hong Kong with 206.71 Mbps, Thailand with 201.81 Mbps, the US Monaco with 200.7 Mbps, the US with 195.31 Mbps, Denmark with 195.26 Mbps and Spain with 172.67 Mbps came next.
The Iranian government has launched a fiber optic project to improve the quality of fixed internet and intends to eliminate the backlog of internet registration by expanding facilities for users and operators.
Irancell Expands Network
Telecom and mobile operator Irancell recently inaugurated several expansion projects.
The projects include the completion of phase one of the 5G internet network, developing the Northeast Switch Center, first phase of the extension of the fiber-optic internet lines, launching a new mobile and fixed network (TD-LTE), expanding rural communication systems or Universal Service Obligation (USO) and a new version of the Irancell-e-Man (My Irancell) application.
Irancell provided 5G internet for the first time in the country in July 2020. It set up nine 5G sites from 2020 to 2022. Under the auspices of the ‘Comprehensive Development of 5G Across Iran’ project, the major telecom company has opened more 5G sites. The last was its 106th site on Aug. 30, 2022, ICTNA reported.
It inaugurated its 400th site in the western city of Kermanshah on Feb. 2 coinciding with the 10-Day Dawn ceremonies to mark the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The company completed the Northeast Switch Center in the shrine-city of Mashhad in the northeastern Khorasan Razavi Province. The project is built on land stretching across 1,548 square meters and a built-in area of 864 square meters.
The center will help expand communication services to Irancell customers and improve service quality.
Founded in 2005, the broadband service provider is in charge of several fiber-optic internet lines. In the framework of the first phase of its so-called “Fiber to the House” project, 36 km, 30 km, 43 km, 53 km, 11 km and 27 km of fiber-optic internet lines in the cities of Babol, Amol, Eslamshahr, Arak, Kamalshahr and Golestan, respectively, were inaugurated on Feb. 2.
Irancell also launched 156 new internet sites covering 353 rural areas under the Development of Fast Internet for Rural Areas scheme.
The company established 344 new mobile internet sites in several cities and provinces. A total of 98 new TD-LTE sites for its fixed internet program will come on stream in the near future.
Irancell also unveiled a new version of its super application called Irancell-e-Man (My Irancell) to replace the aging system.
The company says micro-service architecture, continuous integration and continuous delivery/continuous deployment, Content Management System, improved user experience and real-time monitoring are the main features of the new version of My Irancell super application.
Bijan Abbasi Arand, Irancell’s chief, has said investment in the above-mentioned projects amounted to 26 trillion rials ($58.06 million).
